YouSaid · the spoken record

Erdan

lines on the record: 378
first: 2021-07-28
most recent: 2023-12-29
sittings or episodes: 26
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Yet, as Iran poses an existential threat to Israel, the State of Israel can never and will never allow Iran to become a nuclear-threshold State. We will do whatever is necessary to stop Iran’s nuclear drive and counter the threat from its armies of proxies along our borders and beyond our borders. Some 30 years after the Madrid Conference, Israel remains committed to peace with all our neighbours. The road to peace is clear. It requires standing up to Iran — the greatest threat to security in our region. It requires a Palestinian leadership willing to transform its culture of hate into a culture of peace and it requires an international community led by the Security Council, willing to adopt a new approach, based on promoting cooperation, understanding and people-to-people ties.”
2021-10-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8883 (2021) · source
“Another army is in Iraq and another is in Yemen.” If the Security Council does not take strong action against the six armies, those armies will soon be protected by an Iranian nuclear umbrella, and the Ayatollah’s reign of terror will turn into a hurricane of violence. Let me be clear. Israel favours a diplomatic solution — one that would truly prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear-threshold State. However, Iran has no intention of negotiating such a solution. It has no desire for a longer and stronger agreement. Its only desire is to prolong negotiations, while keeping international pressure from becoming stronger. The dangers of failing to take action in the face of Iran’s flagrant violations of its commitments cannot be overstated. Non-compliance is a contagious disease, especially in our region.”
2021-10-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8883 (2021) · source
“At the same time, Iran continues to spread death, destruction and instability throughout the region as it seeks to advance a Shi’ite hegemony over the Middle East, and exports terror around the world. But the Council does not have to take it from me. It should take it from Major General Gholam Ali Rashid, a senior commander in Iran’s armed forces. In a speech by Major General Rashid on 25 September, he described the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ grand strategy of terror. He said, “I have assembled for you six armies outside of Iran’s territory, and I have created a corridor 1,500 kilometres long and 1,000 kilometres wide, all the way to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. One army is in Lebanon; it is called Hizbullah. Another army is in Palestine and it is called Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. One army is in Syria.”
2021-10-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8883 (2021) · source
“Peace will come when Palestinian children are taught that their national heroes are scientists, inventors and peacebuilders rather than terrorists whose only claim to fame is that they tried to kill Jews. While some members of the Security Council remain stuck in the mud of their anti-Israel obsession, the real threat to global security is quickly advancing. Iran continues to progress towards its goal of becoming a nuclear-threshold State. The murderous Ayatollah regime continues to openly violate its international commitments in the fields of enrichment, stockpiling uranium metal and advanced research and development, while obstructing the International Atomic Energy Agency. It uses diplomatic talks to buy time so that it can enrich uranium to near weapons-grade levels, while gaining nuclear know-how that can never be reversed.”
2021-10-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8883 (2021) · source
“If the Council wishes to invite members of civil society, why not invite courageous Palestinian and Israeli entrepreneurs who are working together to create coexistence? Why not invite representatives of bodies who are providing treatment to Israeli children injured and traumatized by Hamas’ rocket attacks? If the Council invited Ms. Ashrawi, why not ask her to explain her criticism of President Abbas for undermining democracy and establishing an authoritarian regime? As Prime Minister Shamir said 30 years ago in Madrid, Israel strongly desires peace. It is absolutely critical that the Council send the clear message that peace will come when the Palestinian Authority ceases to pay millions of dollars in salaries to terrorists and, instead, uses those funds to build medical centres, schools and a vibrant private sector.”
2021-10-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8883 (2021) · source
“Ashrawi is not just a lifelong spokesperson for the Palestinian political leadership; she is an opponent of peace. Following the Abraham accords, she condemned those historic peace agreements and claimed that the leaders of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain had been coerced and cajoled into making peace with Israel. Does the Security Council really want to give a platform to an enemy of peace? MIFTAH, the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy, the organization that Ms. Ashrawi founded and led, has published anti-Semitic blood libel, claiming that Jews use Christian blood on Passover. Does the Security Council really want to legitimize someone responsible for spreading gross anti-Semitism?”
2021-10-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8883 (2021) · source
“It is an alternate reality, in which hundreds of Palestinian terrorist attacks are not the Council’s focus, while every Israeli court ruling regarding illegal Palestinian construction becomes the most critical crisis in the Middle East. It is a false reality, in which every Palestinian claim against Israel is the most urgent issue on the agenda, while the terror in and the destruction of Iran and its proxies throughout the region are almost an afterthought. The most recent example of that absurd approach is the decision to invite, as a representative of civil society, an individual who was a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and has been a Palestinian politician for decades. What is next? Will the Council invite Hassan Rouhani and Javad Zarif as representatives of Iranian civil society? Ms.”
2021-10-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8883 (2021) · source
“Is the Ambassador not embarrassed to speak about human rights while his police forces are beating to death real civil society activists, such as Nizar Banat? The Ambassador sits here and talks about the situation in Gaza. Why does he not tell the Council whose decisions led to cutting off Gaza’s electricity in 2017? How can he claim to represent the Palestinian people when 80 per cent of Palestinians are fed up with President Abbas? When the members of the Security Council allow this organ to be turned again and again into a platform for the most outrageous anti-Israel libels, they are not only stopping the train of peace from moving forward, they are knocking it off the tracks. As I said, these debates reflect an alternate and false reality that is detached from the reality on the ground.”
2021-10-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8883 (2021) · source
“The unbalanced discussions — I hope the Council felt it — only serve to strengthen Palestinian rejectionism of any further negotiations with Israel, thereby maintaining the conflict. Today, we heard from the Palestinian Ambassador the same lies, falsehoods and distortions that we hear at every debate on the situation in the Middle East. Is he not ashamed to come before the Security Council, when his Government is paying hundreds of millions of dollars to terrorists? How can he possibly speak about aggression when his leaders in schools glorify the murder of Jews and incite terror? He dares to talk about international law when his courts recently sentenced two Palestinians to 15 years in prison for the “crime” of trying to sell land to a Jew.”
2021-10-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8883 (2021) · source
“Israel is a global leader in crucial areas such as water management, sustainable agriculture and renewable energy. Together with the nations of the Abraham Accords and all peace-seeking nations, we can turn the Middle East into a global hub of climate innovation for the benefit of our environment, our economies and the future of our children. Unfortunately, rather than pushing peace forward, the Security Council debates on the situation in the Middle East only seem to perpetuate the conflict. Rather than helping to turn the vision of peace into a reality, these debates create an alternate and false reality. These biased debates give the Palestinians the illusion that they will never be held accountable for their crimes and that all of their radical demands could be granted by the international community.”
2021-10-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8883 (2021) · source
“Thirty years ago, in October 1991, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir addressed the Madrid Peace Conference and declared: “We believe the blessing of peace can turn the Middle East into a paradise; a centre of cultural, scientific, medical and technological creativity... It could put the Middle East... on the road to a new era. Thirty years later, we are seeing Prime Minister Shamir’s vision slowly coming to life. The recent Abraham accords and the long-standing relations between Israel, Egypt and Jordan have put us on the road to a new era in which the Middle East will not be a centre of conflict, but of creativity and solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. That potential is particularly clear as the world prepares for the critical United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.”
2021-10-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8883 (2021) · source
“It should reject Hamas’ narrative on Jerusalem and hold it accountable for using the people of Gaza as human shields. It should insist that the Palestinian Authority end its rejectionism and financing of terror and finally agree to a dialogue with Israel with no preconditions. Palestinian pressure at the United Nations can never lead to a viable solution. Only good faith, bilateral talks and people-to-people ties can move us forward on the path to peace. Lastly, the Security Council should support the efforts of Israel and moderate States to shape a new regional reality of tolerance and cooperation. Israel will always have its hands outstretched in friendship to all who wish to join hands in peace. We hope that the Council and its members will be our partners in building a better future for the entire Middle East.”
2021-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8826 (2021) · source
“One or another non-governmental agency, or even the Security Council, cannot undermine the millenniums-old connection between the Jewish people and their eternal capital of Jerusalem. Under every Jewish wedding canopy throughout the world, a promise is made to remember Jerusalem. We will always keep that promise. While Israel will always remain committed to coexistence and religious freedom for all peoples and faiths in the Holy City, and we continue to maintain the status quo despite false claims to the contrary, we will never accept the delegitimization of our legal, historical and national rights in Jerusalem — by the Security Council or any other international body. Rather than singling out Israel for attack once again, there are many things that the Council can and should do for the stability, security and future of the region.”
2021-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8826 (2021) · source
“When the Council fails to take strong action against the world’s worst human rights violators, such as Iran and Syria, and instead singles out the world’s only Jewish State, it is no wonder that companies like Ben and Jerry’s and Unilever allow themselves to single out Israel for boycott. Those companies have no moral reservations about operating in countries that are truly among the world’s worst violators of human rights, while imposing an anti-Semitic boycott on the Jewish State. In the light the of those double standards, the claims of United Nations bodies and companies like Ben & Jerry’s to be motivated by high ideals and objective standards melt into nothing like ice cream in the summer sun.”
2021-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8826 (2021) · source
“The Security Council must take the opportunity of the renewal of the UNIFIL mandate next month to constrain Hizbullah terror activity in southern Lebanon by ensuring that UNIFIL has the tools, authority and resolve to fulfil its mandate. If not, Hizbullah may drag the entire region into a war that would only bring great destruction on Lebanon. Should not the crisis in Lebanon and Hizbullah’s use of Lebanese civilians as human shields be the topic of today’s debate? But no, once again, the Security Council is focusing on criticizing Israel and encouraging Palestinian extremism and rejectionism.”
2021-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8826 (2021) · source
“When resolution 1701 (2006) was adopted, Hizbullah had approximately 10,000 rockets pointed at Israel. Today it has 150,000 rockets hidden among the schools, mosques and homes of Lebanon. Iran is working day and night to help Hizbullah to obtain precision-guided missiles and other advanced weapons. How can it be that institutions such as the Security Council and the European Union have not designated Hizbullah in its entirety as a terrorist organization? Why allow Hizbullah to undermine Lebanese sovereignty rather than acting forcefully to undermine Hizbullah’s terror activity? Last week two rockets were fired at Israel from within UNIFIL’s area of operation. This is completely unacceptable.”
2021-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8826 (2021) · source
“Fortunately, the American authorities foiled the efforts to kidnap her. However, other regime critics, such as Ruhollah Zam, who was kidnapped and murdered by the Iranian Government, were sadly not so fortunate. If this is what Iran is doing today, imagine what Iran will do to anyone who tries to oppose its regime once it has nuclear weapons. Yet Ms. Alinejad was not invited to brief the Council today, and Iran is not the focus of today’s discussion. Instead, we are once again discussing Israel and Jerusalem, in line with the script of Hamas and Ayatollah Khamenei. While Iran plots to kidnap its critics in the West, it has, together with its proxy Hizbullah, kidnapped the Lebanese people while making a mockery of resolution 1701 (2006) and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).”
2021-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8826 (2021) · source
“Of course, Iran has no credible civilian need, but it has a clear military need to obtain nuclear-weapon capabilities. It is not only Israel that Iran threatens. Iran is developing ballistic missiles that can reach the heart of Europe. Iran is destabilizing Yemen and taking over Lebanon, with its proxy Hizbullah. Iran is behind attacks on American troops in Iraq and on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. Just this week, Jordan’s King Hussein revealed that Jordan had been attacked by drones with Iran’s signature on them. The latest example of Iran’s outrageous behaviour was the plot to kidnap an American citizen on American soil. Iran had Masih Alinejad, a brave journalist and activist for freedom and women’s rights, followed and photographed, and tried to lure her out of the country.”
2021-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8826 (2021) · source
“Leading the way to a future of cooperation would hold great benefits for all. Unfortunately, some countries are not interested in building a better future. The regime working hard to keep the region mirrored in a dark past of conflict is Iran. The Iranian regime is continuing its quest to become a nuclear- threshold State while spreading terror, destruction and instability throughout the Middle East and around the world. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported this month that Iran is taking steps towards the production of uranium metal enriched to 20 per cent. As the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom stated, Iran has no credible civilian need for research and development in uranium-metal production, but that is a key step in the development of a nuclear weapon.”
2021-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8826 (2021) · source
“Make no mistake: the costs of adopting the narratives of the extremists in the Middle East and enabling those who oppose peace to keep the region stuck in the past are enormous, and not just for the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. Lebanon is in a state of crisis. According to UNICEF, Lebanon’s water system is on the verge of collapse. Parts of Iran are facing a water crisis so severe that protesters are out in the streets and the Ayatollah regime is reacting the way it always does — with violence and murder. Israel is a world leader in water management and technology. We would be glad to help the people of Lebanon and Iran improve their water security, just as we have helped many other nations in this field, and just like we accepted to do this month in our agreement to provide Jordan with an additional 50 million cubic meters of water.”
2021-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8826 (2021) · source
“The Palestinian Authority claimed that its refusal was due to the vaccine’s expiry date, but this claim was baseless, and the proof of that is that Israel then signed a similar agreement with South Korea. I guess South Korea’s health standards are too low for the Palestinian Authority. Mr. President, do you think you could find the Palestinian non-governmental organization that would come before the Security Council to condemn the Palestinian Authority’s incitement to terror and pay- for-slay policy? Of course not: if they dared to speak out, they would be arrested and beaten into silence by the Palestinian Authority.”
2021-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8826 (2021) · source
“While the Palestinian Authority continues to spread hate against Israel at the United Nations, the Palestinian people are in the streets calling for the downfall of the Palestinian Authority regime. Palestinian Authority security forces are savagely beating and murdering protesters and journalists. But rather than addressing any of these issues, the Palestinian Authority is going through the same old tired act of blaming Israel for its problems. This approach, which prioritizes demonizing Israel over helping Palestinians, led to the Palestinian Authority’s shameful decision to refuse Israel’s offer to transfer over a million coronavirus disease vaccines that could have saved many, many lives. Once again, the Palestinian Authority prioritized its hate for Israel over the lives and well-being of its people.”
2021-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8826 (2021) · source
“Listening to the Palestinian Ambassador, it is painfully clear that the Palestinian Authority is stuck in the past and that it wants to keep the Council stuck in the past as well — a past where, rather than dealing with its problems at home or investing in its people, the Palestinian Authority focuses on attacking Israel in the international arena and inciting terrorism, a past where the Palestinian Authority leads the efforts aimed at having the United Nations waste its resources on yet another commission biased against Israel. The latest Human Rights Council Commission of Inquiry against Israel is not just a waste of resources, it is a travesty of justice.”
2021-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8826 (2021) · source
“As this Israeli non-governmental organization’s participation in this debate reflects, Israel is a vibrant democracy committed to freedom of expression. However, bringing a political non-governmental organization to brief the Security Council on Jerusalem is as absurd as bringing a leader of the yellow vest protests to give an objective briefing on the French Government’s economic policy. But making Jerusalem the focus of the Security Council’s Middle East debate is not just absurd; it is dangerous. It could be understood as an acceptance of Hamas’ narrative that Israeli actions in Jerusalem justified its latest terror attacks on Israel. Today’s discussion might serve to increase Hamas’ influence in Jerusalem and the Palestinian arena. Is this really what the Security Council wants?”
2021-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8826 (2021) · source
“Why else would the Council need to be briefed by a one-sided speaker from a political Israeli no-governmental organization (NGO) affiliated with the far left, an NGO with a long history of spreading distorted claims regarding Israel’s legitimacy and presence in Jerusalem while ignoring inconvenient facts — such as the fact that more than half of Jerusalem’s Arab residents would prefer Israeli citizenship to Palestinian citizenship, or the fact that Jerusalem’s Arab population has increased by more than 400 per cent since Jerusalem was reunited in 1967, or the fact that just last week during Eid al-Adha, 100,000 Muslims prayed peacefully at the Al-Aqsa mosque while Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount are never allowed to pray — never.”
2021-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8826 (2021) · source
“Hamas was seeking to increase its political power and popularity on the Palestinian street at the expense of the Palestinian Authority and so looked for an excuse to attack Israel. It found an excuse, a very, very weak one, or at least one that would be considered very weak in the context of any other country. Let me ask you: would you ever accept the narrative of a designated terrorist organization as a valid excuse for firing thousands of rockets at your citizens, at your capital? Of course not. Bringing Hamas’s lies about Jerusalem to the Security Council strengthens terrorist organizations and weakens the Palestinian Authority. You all know why President Abbas cancelled the elections. Still, the Council acts as if the most important and pressing security issue in the Middle East were the false Palestinian claims regarding Jerusalem.”
2021-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8826 (2021) · source
“Israel and more and more moderate Arab States are working to move beyond the past of hate, instability and fundamentalism towards a future of dialogue, tolerance and peace, a future in which cooperation replaces conflict and respectful dialogue replaces violent disputes. Unfortunately, terrorist groups such as Hamas and radical regimes such as Iran oppose that vision of a brighter future. They are fighting to keep the Middle East stuck in a dark age of conflict, a past in which the narratives of the extremists dominate the international discourse and in which Israel is singled out for demonization. In May, Hamas launched thousands of rockets against millions of Israeli civilians. Those who truly understand the Middle East know that that was a reaction to the Palestinian Authority’s decision once again to cancel the planned elections.”
2021-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8826 (2021) · source
“Two weeks ago, the United Arab Emirates officially opened its embassy in Tel Aviv. This week we saw the first direct flight between Israel and Morocco and Israel’s return to the African Union. We will soon celebrate the one-year anniversary of the announcement of the Abraham Accords, which have so far led to peace and normalization between Israel and four Arab States, in addition to our long-standing peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan. To quote a great Jewish thinker, “The times they are a’changin’”. And they are changing, even without the involvement of the Security Council. In fact, perhaps they are changing because the Security Council was not involved.”
2021-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8826 (2021) · source